Sunday, November 28, 2010

Another resident at the Luck Cabin! I love inside bugs during the winter because outside I just don't see them anymore - the ground here is frozen now, like the mud has become a brown hard glacier.I have this black bug buddy crawling up my walls and sneaking behind things to stay warm a few times but had not had the chance to get close up....

but once I did, i was really baffled by all the bugs this one insect represented... beetle in it's movement, ant faced, bee segmented belly, tiny wings (faux or not?) , grasshopper legs!

WHat Is IT?

This buggie is also rather large! It is not the size of an ant... it's a bit of a beast. The kind of bug that would make my mom freak out and call for help. (My mom once called the police when a snake was in her yard!)

It even walked straight up to my cat Toots and tried to start a fight with her. She kept backing her face away from it.

I just found one on my front porch, its cold here too and I was surprised to see a bug crawling around.. It was kinda refreshing :) I like your post and Im glad I found it, I thought it was an queen black ant.

This is a Blister Beetle aka Oil Beetle. When in larval stage they climb up plants and wait for bees to arrive. They jump on the bees back and ride to the hive of the bee. From there the Oil Beetle larva eats all of the stored food and the bees larva! They are very important beetles to have around, but their survival depends on bees, who, because of colony collapse disorder, is declining...

Found the same thing in the front yard, and i was so curios. Turns out is a Meliod beetle, and is a parasite that attaches to bees and infiltrates the hive to eat other larva and grow to another larva state that eats the honey in the hive! NOT A KEEPER!